Taiwan confirmed Tuesday that President Tsai Ing-wen will transit the United States en route to Central America at the end of the month, but there was no word on whether a highly anticipated meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will take place.

Tsai will head to New York on March 29 before visiting Guatemala and Belize, presidential spokeswoman Lin Yu-chan told reporters. She will then stop in California before returning to Taiwan.

When asked whether Tsai will meet with McCarthy, as has been widely reported in recent weeks, the presidential office refused to provide any details of her itinerary in the US.

McCarthy told reporters earlier this month that he’ll meet with Tsai when she is in the US but didn’t specify a date. He also did not rule out the possibility of taking a trip to Taiwan himself in addition to their meeting.

Any face to face meeting between McCarthy and Tsai is likely to infuriate China’s ruling Communist Party, which claims democratic Taiwan as its own territory despite never having controlled it.

China launched massive war drills near Taiwan last summer, including firing multiple missiles over the island, when McCarthy’s predecessor Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei – the first such trip by a sitting House speaker in 25 years.

China hit out at initial reports of Tsai’s planned US transit emerged earlier this month with its Foreign Ministry declaring it was “seriously concerned” about the prospect of a meeting with McCarthy and repeating its position that Beijing “resolutely opposes all official exchanges between US and Taiwan.”

On Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin repeated that criticism, saying Beijing was opposed to the visit “in any name for any reason” and accusing Tsai of “promoting Taiwan independence” with the trip.

Because of the unofficial relationship the US has with Taiwan, Tsai’s stop in the US is not characterized as an official visit in order to keep US within the longstanding “One China” policy.

Under the “One China” policy, the US acknowledges China’s position that Taiwan is part of China, but has never officially recognized Beijing’s claim to the self-governing island of some 23 million.

Taiwan’s refusal to confirm details of a potential McCarthy meeting in advance is not surprising given the geopolitical sensitivities.

Pelosi’s visit to Taipei last year was only officially made public once her plane landed, although it was reported by Western media ahead of time.

Handful of diplomatic allies

Guatemala and Belize are two of Taiwan’s few remaining official diplomatic allies.

Last Tuesday, Honduras President Xiomara Castro said she planned to switch diplomatic recognition to Beijing.

That move would leave Taiwan with just 13 official diplomatic allies, mostly small nations in Latin American and the Pacific.

However, Taiwan has de-facto, but non-official, diplomatic relations with many Western nations including the United States.

During her trip to Taipei last year, Pelosi, a California Democrat, said the visit intended to make it “unequivocally clear” the US would “not abandon” the democratically governed island.

Taiwanese leaders, including Tsai, have previously transited through the US on their way to other places.

Tsai most recently visited the US in July 2019 when she stopped over in New York before heading to Haiti, a diplomatic ally of Taiwan.

US officials have engaged in multiple communications with Chinese officials in recent weeks to remind them of past precedents regarding US transits of Taiwanese presidents, a senior administration official told reporters.

The official noted that that any transit to the US of Tsai should not be used by China as a pretext for an aggressive response.

Tsai’s planned trip comes as Taiwan and the United States ramp up efforts to counter China’s growing military capabilities.

It also coincides with former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou’s visit to mainland China, the first such trip by a former Taiwanese leader since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949.

Ma served as Taiwan’s president between 2008 and 2016, during which he drew stronger economic ties between China and Taiwan but kept Beijing’s push for “reunification” at bay.

The two trips are taking place at a politically sensitive time.

Taiwan is scheduled to hold its next presidential election in January next year. Tsai is not eligible for re-election.

Fears of a potential Chinese invasion, which have loomed over Taiwan for more than seven decades, are particularly high, supercharged by both Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s increased assertiveness and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Famous for its sprawling nature reserves that are home to all “Big Five” animals, Kenya’s 882 miles of coastline along the Indian Ocean are often overlooked. It’s a place where people go to “chill out,” but not to observe and connect with the wild and unique ecosystem, says Kenyan filmmaker, photographer and conservationist Jahawi Bertolli.

Bertolli is determined to change this outlook and believes that visual storytelling is one way to do it. “No one was telling stories about the ocean here (in Kenya),” he says.

So far, his work has focused mainly on the Lamu Archipelago along Kenya’s northern coast, where his wife Elke Bertolli, also a photographer and filmmaker, grew up. Lamu is a hidden gem, he says, and filming has led to new discoveries. “There’s not much scientific work that’s happened up here so a lot of what we’re finding is new,” he adds. “We’re finding these incredible reefs. We’re finding incredible biodiversity.”

But this rich biodiversity is increasingly under threat. Bertolli says that harmful fishing practices, such as drag netting, coupled with habitat degradation due, in part, to coastal development, pollution and an increasing human population have caused a reduction in fish populations.

Related: Stunning images from African Wildlife Foundation’s photography award are inspiring conservation

Not only is this bad for the ecosystem, but for local fishers too. Lamu is home to one of the oldest Swahili settlements in East Africa, a community who have depended on the ocean since the 12th century. Traditionally these fishers respected the balance with nature, says Bertolli. They stopped fishing when they had enough for what was needed, they only fished in certain seasons, and they left the coral reef alone, understanding it to be a home for fish, where they needed space and time to reproduce and grow. “There’s a lot of cultural knowledge, which is actually conservation knowledge. It’s just packaged differently,” Bertolli explains.

“A powerful tool”

In 2020, Bertolli made a short film about Lamu’s sea life and the conservation traditions of the local fishers. He called it “Bahari Yetu” – “Our Ocean” in Swahili – and began showing it the local community. The screenings were a gamechanger, he says: “When you bring back that imagery, all of a sudden people are like, ‘Oh my God. Wow, this is ours … this is our heritage, these are our reefs, this is what’s happening underwater in our ocean.’”

A viewing of “Bahari Yetu” was also put on for local beach management units and members from the county government and fisheries department. Bertolli also screened another film he had made a few years earlier on locally managed marine areas in Africa. The next time the group met, all members voted unanimously to begin setting up a marine protected area around Lamu’s Kinyika island, a craggy rock that acts as a nursing ground for seafaring birds and hosts a bustling coral reef system.

For Bertolli and the people of the Lamu Archipelago, this has been a significant first step to ensuring the preservation of an essential ecosystem. While it’s only the beginning and a management plan still needs to be established, Bertolli believes it has also been a testament to the power of visual storytelling. “Because it was their film, told in their language, filmed here – it became an incredibly powerful tool to inspire the community to come together to try and start actually conserving these areas,” he says.

At least four Palestinians were killed on Thursday and 23 others injured after an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) operation in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry. At least five of the injured are in critical condition, the health ministry added.

In a statement the Israeli security forces said they “neutralized two operatives of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization who are suspected of significant terrorist activity.”

A third person “was neutralized after he tried to attack the fighters with an iron crowbar,” the statement continued.

“During the operation, the forces fired at armed men who fired at them, injuries were detected. Also, violent disturbances developed during which suspects threw stones at the forces.”

Hamas announced in a statement that two of the Palestinians killed in Jenin were its members.

“The cowardly assassination of two leaders of the resistance will not go unpunished. The occupation have tried us before, knows for sure that our response is coming, and that the march of the resistance continues until liberation,” the Hamas statement read.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, said in a statement following the raid: “These continuous Israeli aggressive actions confirm that Israel is not at all interested in calming the situation and preventing its eruption, contrary to all international efforts seeking to prevent escalation during the (upcoming) holy month of Ramadan.” He also called for “practical measures on the ground by the US administration to stop the unilateral Israeli measures, and to provide international protection for our people.”

The violence marks the latest round in what has become a brutal cycle of violence between Israelis and Palestinians. A total of 88 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of this year, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said, a number that includes militants and civilians. Since the beginning of the year, 13 Israeli civilians and one security officer have been killed in what Israeli officials say were Palestinian attacks.

It was another sobering Formula One weekend for Mercedes as Lewis Hamilton cut a frustrated figure after his team’s deficiencies were laid bare once again in Saudi Arabia.

Red Bull completed its second one-two of the season, with Sergio Pérez this time winning from pole position and Max Verstappen flying through the field from 15th place after technical troubles in qualifying to finish second.

Hamilton once again finished way back in fifth place, one position behind Mercedes teammate George Russell, leading the seven-time champion to marvel at the car Red Bull has put together for the season.

“I have definitely never seen a car so fast,” Hamilton said after the race. “When we were fast, we were not that fast. It is the fastest car I have seen, especially compared to the rest.

“I don’t know how, but he [Verstappen] came past me with some serious speed and I didn’t even bother to block him because there was a massive speed difference.

“Everyone wants to see a close battle, but it is the way it is. It is not my problem, it is not my fault.”

Mercedes was recently the dominant force in F1, winning eight straight Constructors’ Championships between 2014 and 2021, but those years of success now seem like a distant memory.

Hamilton finished eighth in qualifying in Jeddah, nearly a second slower than Pérez on pole, with Russell fairing better in fourth but still almost six-tenths of a second down.

There were rumblings in preseason that Aston Martin had put together a competitive package and veteran Fernando Alonso has certainly delivered on the hype, finishing third in the first two races of the year.

With Red Bill so far ahead, Hamilton says Mercedes’ aim in the immediate future is to try and be competitive with Aston Martin.

“[We are] still a long, long way off Red Bull,” Hamilton said. “[It’s] definitely strange to see that Ferrari are behind us and it’s positive for us.

“It’s a different surface here and we don’t really understand why on this surface our car works one way and different on another.

“It will be up and down through the first three races. Hopefully, we can get some upgrades ASAP and try to close that gap to the Astons.”

Mercedes and Aston Martin both sit on 38 points in the Constructor Standings after two races, already 49 points behind the runaway Red Bull team, with Ferrari a further 12 points back.

The F1 season takes a break for a week before returning to Melbourne on April 2 for the Australian Grand Prix.

Rohan Bopanna proved age was just a number after becoming the oldest ATP Masters 1000 champion at 43 years old, with victory in the BNP Paribas Open men’s doubles.

Alongside playing partner Matthew Ebden, the unseeded pair dispatched top-ranked duo Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski, to claim the men’s doubles title at Indian Wells, winning 6-3 2-6 10-8.

The triumph was the pair’s second title together following last month’s success in Doha at the Qatar open. Bopanna described the win as “Truly special.”

“It’s called Tennis Paradise for a reason. I’ve been coming here over the years and seeing all these guys win and I’m really happy that Matt and I were able to do this and get this title here,” he said, per Reuters.

In winning his 24th tour-level trophy, the former doubles world number three broke the record for oldest masters champion held by former partner Daniel Nestor.

According to Reuters, Bopanna credited the feat to his coffee consumption. “It’s the Indian coffee that I keep having when traveling,” he explained. “That’s the secret. The biggest thing is to make sure you recover well after matches and that’s really helped me.”

The Indian, whose family own a coffee plantation in the Indian state of Karnataka, added: “Some days I tell Matt I maybe just practiced 20 minutes, but I’d rather rest the body and be ready for our matches.”

Ebden and Bopanna now hold an 11-4 record together this season and have moved up to 18th and 11th in the ATP doubles rankings, respectively.

Premier League team Fulham had two players and its manager sent off as it lost 3-1 to Manchester United in a dramatic FA Cup quarterfinal on Sunday.

The visitors had been winning the tie 1-0 until the red midst descended in the second half at Old Trafford, with a frenzied few minutes resulting in a penalty and three red cards.

The dramatic sequence of events began after Fulham’s Willian used his arm to clear Jadon Sancho’s shot off the line.

Referee Chris Kavanagh had initially pointed for a corner but the video assistant referee (VAR) prompted him to check the pitch side monitor where it was clear Willian had used his arm.

But before Kavanagh could even make a decision, Fulham manager Marco Silva was sent off for his furious reaction on the sideline.

The referee then sent off Willian and awarded United a penalty, prompting another angry reaction from Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrović.

After Kavanagh had pointed to the spot, the 28-year-old – who had given Fulham the lead – pushed the referee and could be seen shouting in his face.

Kavanagh quickly showed Mitrović a red card and the striker needed to be dragged away by staff and teammates.

Bruno Fernandes scored the subsequent penalty, sparking a comeback from United, with goals from Marcel Sabitzer and another late effort from Fernandes finishing the tie.

After the match, Fulham boss Silva said he was angry that his team wasn’t awarded a penalty in the first half but admitted that he needed to control his emotions.

“Of course, in all the moments of the game, we should control the emotions,” he told reporters, saying his team hadn’t had much “luck” with referee Kavanagh this season.

“Of course, we are human beings, but we have to understand the business and the game that we’re playing, and we should control all the emotions.”

“[Mitrović] should control the emotions of the game,” Silva added. “Even if the decision came against us.

“Even if in the first half he had two moments inside the box that the referee didn’t give, at least one for him, and no one told the referee to go to the screen.

“He was involved in all the moments and it’s tough for him. At the same time, he has to control the emotions.”

It is yet to be seen what punishment Mitrović will receive for putting his hands on the referee.

Former Premier League striker Chris Sutton told the BBC that the striker should receive a “10-game ban” amid fears his reaction will set a dangerous precedent for young players in grassroots football.

In 1998, West Ham’s Paolo Di Canio received an 11-game ban after he pushed referee Paul Alcock.

Silva, though, is hopeful for a different outcome for his player.

“I hope the people who are going to decide do so with the fairness that the moment deserves,” he added.

The win means Manchester United will face Brighton in the semifinals, with the winner facing either Manchester City or Sheffield United in the final.

March Madness never fails to disappoint in terms of excitement, and this year is no different.

There have been upsets, ‘Cinderella’ runs and brackets busted aplenty in this year’s NCAA college basketball tournament on both the men’s and women’s side, while some of the higher seeds have handled their business with aplomb, avoiding any potential banana peels.

On Sunday, No. 1-seeded Stanford became the first top seed to be eliminated from this year’s women’s tournament, while on the men’s side, the Sweet 16 round is set.

Let’s have a look at the main headlines:

Toppling the Cardinal

The Stanford Cardinal became the first No. 1 seed to be knocked out of the women’s tournament this year after it lost 54-49 on Sunday night to No. 8 seed Ole Miss.

Angel Baker led the way for the Rebels with 13 points, while Marquesha Davis and Madison Scott added 12 and 11 points respectively.

Stanford, which never held a lead in Sunday’s game, becomes the first No. 1 seed to fail to reach the Sweet 16 in the women’s bracket since 2009 and just the fifth No. 1 seed since 1994 to be knocked out of the tournament before the second weekend.

The Cardinal was led in scoring by forward Cameron Brink with 20 points. Brink did tie the game at 49 with 1:16 to go but a 5-0 run from Ole Miss put the game out of sight and clinched a famous victory.

The Rebels’ qualification to the Sweet 16 is the program’s first since 2007.

“Everyone had a dream coming up,” Ole Miss coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin told reporters afterwards.

“I’m a dreamer, and I try to be a dream merchant for my players. But how cool is it to take down someone that you admire [in Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer]? Like, that was pretty freakin’ cool … so I’ll never forget this.”

Ole Miss will face either No. 4 seed Texas or No. 5 seed Louisville in the next round.

The end of a fairytale run

In the men’s bracket, Sunday marked the end of this year’s headline-making ‘Cinderella’ run.

The No. 16-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson Knights, who earlier in the tournament had become just the second team in men’s NCAA tournament history to knock out a No. 1 seed in the first round after upsetting Purdue, lost 78-70 to the No. 9-seeded Florida Atlantic Owls in the second round on Sunday.

Florida Atlantic went into the half with a 32-25 lead, but the Knights came roaring back, going on an 8-0 run to start the second half to take the lead. However, the Owls took charge and broke the game open with less than five minutes to play.

Owls guard Johnell Davis led scoring with 29 points, while Demetre Roberts’ 20 points kept things close for Fairleigh Dickinson, but it wasn’t enough in the end.

Although the Knights’ run came to an end, the team’s spirit, grit and propensity to win against the odds meant it had become many people’s second team, as fans rooted for the dream to continue.

After the game, FDU head coach Tobin Anderson said the last few weeks will be something that live with him forever.

When asked what he’ll most remember from the 2023 March Madness, he said: “Everything. Everybody chanting ‘F-D-U.’ The place going crazy. The police escorts. Leaving the hotel with the band playing. Every part of this I’ll remember forever – and they will, too.”

He added: “What we did was incredibly special. And that will be something [we’ll have] for the rest of our lives.”

With the Knights’ loss, a 16th seed is still yet to advance to the Sweet 16 in men’s NCAA tournament history.

This is Florida Atlantic’s first Sweet 16 appearance in program history and the Owls will face No. 4 Tennessee on Thursday in New York.

After Sunday’s results, it means that the men’s Sweet 16 is set, with teams needing just four more wins to be crowned national champion.

The round will begin on Thursday, March 23 and opens up with No. 7 seed Michigan State playing No. 3 Kansas State, followed by No. 4 UConn against No. 8 Arkansas, No. 4 Tennessee against No. 9 Florida Atlantic and No. 2-seeded UCLA against No. 3 Gonzaga.

On Friday, No. 1-seed Alabama will play No. 5 San Diego State, No. 1 Houston faces No. 4 Miami, No. 6 Creighton takes on No. 15 Princeton and No. 2-seeded Texas against No. 3 Xavier concludes the Sweet 16.

This winter season has truly been remarkable to see snowfall of epic proportions blanket upstate New York, the Midwest and the mountains of the West.

Minneapolis is experiencing its eighth-snowiest season on record, with 81 inches of snow, compared to its average of 51 inches. Bismarck, North Dakota and Grand Rapids, Michigan, are experiencing their third-snowiest season; Duluth, Minnesota, is coming in at sixth; and Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is eighth.

Several more shots of snow will come to the Midwest again this week, only adding to the impressive snowpack.

But all the snow will eventually melt, and forecasters are fearing the worst.

Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expressed concern about the increased likelihood of major spring flooding in the Upper Mississippi River Basin, particularly from the Twin Cities to St. Louis, due to rapid snowmelt.

It’s crazy to think the Mississippi River could end up overflowing its banks when just last fall, parts of the river were at record low levels. How quickly the tables can turn.

Masha Hoy, a hydrologist with the North Central River Forecast Center, said a big driver of the forecast is the region’s above-average – and very wet – snowpack.

“The snow water equivalent in the snowpack that’s still on the ground is in the top 10 or 20% compared to historic years, so there’s really just quite a lot of snow water out there,” Hoy said in a media briefing. “With temperatures on the colder side for this winter, it hasn’t had a chance to melt out slowly yet.”

While temperatures may get above freezing during the day across parts of the Midwest, for the most part, lows are returning below freezing, which has kept the snowpack from rapidly melting until now.

“If we were to receive consistency of warm, high temperatures – right around our normal highs or where they’re at right now – with low temperatures above 32 degrees consistently, that is where we would see a much more rapid snowmelt, and then increase that flooding potential,” explained Ryan Dunleavy, meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Twin Cities.

If a major flood does materialize in the coming weeks and months, cities like Davenport, Iowa, will be at risk. Davenport Mayor Mike Matson has been watching the situation closely and said his city is ready for what’s to come.

Matson has been mayor since 2020, but remembers just four years ago, when a temporary levee broke and sent water rushing into his town, after rapidly melting snow and rain caused major flooding along the Mississippi River in 2019.

He said every spring, flooding is on everyone’s minds.

“This is a conversation that a lot of people are used to having you know, especially some of our old-timers have been dealing with this a long time and they get it. We have people that live along the river and when the flood comes, they boat in and out,” Matson said.

Matson added just as people in Florida live with the reality of hurricanes, this is their reality living along the mighty Mississippi.

The potential for a rapid spring melt is an evolving situation, and there is no guarantee it will happen, but it will be at the forefront of minds up and down the Mississippi in the coming months.

Thomas Nashe, the 16th-century British poet and dramatist, certainly looked forward to spring in his own colorful, singsong way:

The fields breathe sweet, the daisies kiss our feet,
Young lovers meet, old wives a-sunning sit,
In every street these tunes our ears do greet:
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to witta-woo!
Spring, the sweet spring!

Sweet spring indeed – a time to observe the growing light, listen to the birds, smell the flowers and feel the growing warmth from the sun.

They’re all signs that spring equinox 2023 is arriving. This official first day of spring in the Northern Hemisphere is a sign of rebirth, a time of tradition and a harmonious balance between day and night.

Precisely when will the spring equinox happen?

Some folks like things scheduled down to the minute.

The spring equinox will arrive exactly at 21:24 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) March 20, according to EarthSky. Here’s how that breaks down at various points around the world (all times adjusted for Daylight Saving Time):

• Honolulu (Hawaii): 11:24 a.m.
• San Francisco (California) and Victoria (Canada): 2:24 p.m.
• Santa Fe (New Mexico) and Guadalajara (Mexico): 3:24 p.m.
• Minneapolis (Minnesota) and Kingston (Jamaica): 4:24 p.m.
• Montreal (Canada) and Charleston (South Carolina): 5:24 p.m.
• Halifax (Canada): 6:24 p.m.

Crossing over the Atlantic, here are some more places:

• Dublin (Ireland) and Accra (Ghana): 9:24 p.m.
• Paris (France) and Algiers (Algeria): 10:24 p.m.
• Helsinki (Finland) and Alexandria (Egypt): 11:24 p.m.

For time zones east of the above, the equinox actually falls on Tuesday, March 21. Some more places:

• Istanbul (Turkey) and Addis Ababa (Ethiopia): 12:24 a.m.
• Dubai (United Arab Emirates): 1:24 a.m.
• Mumbai (India): 2:54 a.m.
• Bangkok (Thailand) and Hanoi (Vietnam): 4:24 a.m.
• Singapore: 5:24 a.m.
• Seoul (South Korea) and Osaka (Japan): 6:24 a.m.

You can click here to see a listing of major cities. Or click here to look up the exact moment of the spring equinox where you live.

For some, fall is in the air

Folks in the Northern Hemisphere are looking forward to longer days, flowers and a burst of greenery. But for people living south of the equator, this equinox means they are heading into fall.

So for Chileans, South Africans and Australians, among others, this is a time to look forward to cooler autumn weather.

For people who reside near the equator (in places such as Quito, Ecuador, or Singapore), none of this is really a big deal. They get roughly 12 hours of daylight and nighttime year round.

Spring equinox has another name

If you ever hear anyone say “vernal equinox,” it means the same thing.

The term equinox comes from the Latin word “equinoxium,” meaning “equality between day and night.” And vernal also comes from Latin and means “spring.”

Why does spring equinox happen?

The Earth rotates along an imaginary line that runs from North Pole to South Pole. It’s called the axis, and this rotation is what gives us day and night.

However, the axis tilts at 23.5 degrees, as NASA explains. That positions one hemisphere of the planet to get more sunlight than the other for half of the year’s orbit around the sun. This discrepancy in sunlight is what triggers the seasons.

The effect is at its maximum in late June and late December. Those are the solstices, and they have the most extreme differences between day and night, especially near the poles. (That’s why it stays dark for so long each day during the winter in places such as Scandinavia and Alaska.)

But since the winter solstice three months ago in December, you’ve probably noticed that our days have been getting longer in the Northern Hemisphere and the nights shorter. And now here we are at the spring equinox!

Going forward, the Northern Hemisphere will be more exposed to the sun than the Southern Hemisphere. That’s why it gets increasingly warmer as we head toward the summer solstice in June.

The equinoxes aren’t exactly ‘equal’

It turns out you actually get a little more daylight than darkness on the equinox – and how much so depends where you are on the planet.

How does that happen when it’s supposed to be 12 hours of day and 12 hours night?

As the US National Weather Service explains, the “nearly” equal hours of day and night are because of the complex way a sunrise is measured and the refraction of sunlight in our atmosphere.

This bending of light rays “causes the sun to appear above the horizon when the actual position of the sun is below the horizon.” The day is a bit longer at higher latitudes than at the equator because it takes the sun longer to rise and set the closer you get to the poles.

We got that truly equal day/night split a few days before the official spring equinox. That’s called the equilux.

Get oriented

If you’re a sky watcher, the website EarthSky points out the equinoxes – spring or autumn – are a superb time to orient yourself. The equinoxes are the only two times a year the sun rises due east and sets due west for everyone on the planet.

EarthSky says the equinox is “a good day for finding east and west from your yard or other favorite site for watching the sky. Just go outside around sunset or sunrise and notice the location of the sun on the horizon with respect to familiar landmarks.”

Another fun fact: The sun sets faster during the equinoxes than during solstices – and it’s true for both hemispheres. The reason? The setting sun hits the horizon at the steepest possible angle to Earth, EarthSky says.

The sun sets more slowly during solstices when the Earth’s tilt is most extreme. And the effect is more dramatic the farther you get from the equator. That’s why the sun never sets at all in the Arctic Circle during the time around the summer solstice.

Special sites and modern celebrations

In England, the mysterious stone structure of Stonehenge has been a popular gathering place for solstices and equinoxes. English Heritage organizes the events, and if you aren’t fond of big crowds, the equinoxes draw fewer people than the solstices typically.

In Mexico, the Mayan site Chichén Itzá has special equinox ties. At the site, the impressive pyramid known as El Castillo was aligned so that a shadow outlining the form of a snake of light (Kukulcán) descends the steps on the equinoxes.

And it’s not just well-known ancient sites that traditionally get in on the action.

Pike Place Market in Seattle will be celebrating its annual Daffodil Day. When shoppers visit the market, they will get a free bundle of daffodils while supplies last.

The city of Zenica, northwest of Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina, holds its annual Cimburijada or “Festival of Scrambled Eggs” on the first day of spring.

Cultural influences

Cultures around the world celebrate the equinox. Here are a few:

Nowruz is the Persian New Year. Also known as Nauryz, Navruz or Nowrouz, it means “new day.”

It’s no coincidence it falls on the first day of spring. The Iranian calendar is a solar calendar, meaning time is determined, through astronomical observations, by Earth’s movement around the sun. So, the first day of the year always kicks off with the vernal equinox.

It’s a celebration of new beginnings: wishing prosperity and welcoming the future while shedding away the past. That’s why families use this time to deep clean their homes and closets and buy fresh clothing.

In China, trying to stand an egg upright is a popular game during the spring equinox, according to VisitBeijing.com. The custom is thought to go back thousands of years, and it’s believed that if people can get an egg to stand, they will have good luck. And people across China eat local spring vegetables.

In Japan, Vernal Equinox Day is a public holiday (on Tuesday, March 21, this year). Japan is thoroughly modernized, but its people still adhere to old traditions such as visiting family graves and holding family reunions to mark the spring equinox.

Swaths of California still saturated by ruthless storms will get walloped by another atmospheric river, spawning fears of renewed flooding and forcing some residents to flee.

The state has already been hammered by at least 11 atmospheric rivers this season. An atmospheric river is like a fire hose that carries saturated air from the tropics to higher latitudes, dumping relentless rain or snow.

The last, which struck California last week, left soil overly saturated and vulnerable to new flooding and rapid runoffs, the National Weather Service said.

The next atmospheric river is expected to slam California from late Monday night through Wednesday.

Peak wind gusts of 60 to 80 mph are forecast for the mountains and deserts of Southern California, where power outages will likely develop, Hennen said.

The imminent storm system is expected to dump 1 to 3 inches of rain across the lower elevations and 2 to 4 inches across the foothills of Southern California through Thursday. Nearby Arizona could get up to 3 inches of rainfall.

The Weather Prediction Center on Monday raised the flood threat for portions of Southern California to a level 3 of 4, which is a moderate risk. More than 15 million people are included in the category in coastal areas from Los Angeles to San Diego.

“When adding runoff from the steep nearby mountains where rainfall totals may exceed 4 inches, numerous flash floods are likely,” the center warned. “The timing of the heaviest rain also favors added impacts, as they will likely be ongoing during the Tuesday morning commute.”

Thousands of residents were under evacuation orders Sunday in two small central California towns, Alpaugh and Allensworth. Officials worried roads could become impassable and isolate residents, the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office said.

First responders from dozens of agencies, including the California National Guard, were out Sunday afternoon helping residents evacuate – a sight that has become familiar in the flood-ravaged state.

Ferocious winds will whip the state

More than 25 million people are under alerts for strong winds from California into Nevada and Arizona. Wind gusts of 40 mph to 55 mph are expected along the coast and in the valleys of Southern California Tuesday.

In the mountains, gusts up to 75 mph are likely and may be strong enough to down trees and power lines from the central California coast to Southern California, the National Weather Service said.

In the Sierra Nevada and Southern California mountain ranges, several feet of snowfall in some of the highest terrains could make travel hazardous.

Winter storm warnings were in effect for the higher terrain of Southern California, as the highest elevations could see 2 to 5 feet of snow.

“Travel could be very difficult to impossible. The hazardous conditions could impact the morning or evening commute. Very strong winds could cause extensive tree damage,” the weather service warned.

In the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range, an additional 1 to 4 feet of snowfall is possible late Monday through Wednesday afternoon. The San Bernardino Mountains are also under a winter storm watch, with snowfall expected to reach up to 4 feet through Wednesday with gusts up to 85 mph.

Severe drought cut by half

While the atmospheric rivers have upended life for many Californians – damaging homes and livelihoods – the ensuing rainfall has also helped put a dent in the state’s historic drought.

Last week’s atmospheric river alone shattered daily rainfall records in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Santa Maria.

There’s been so much rain that the Southern California water board called off emergency drought conservation measures for more than 7 million people.

Severe drought in California was cut in half from the previous week, now covering only 8% of the state, down from 80.6% just three months ago, according to the US Drought Monitor. Just over a third of the state remains in some level of drought.

The abnormally wet winter – combined with recent storms – wiped out exceptional and extreme drought in California for the first time since 2020, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“Moderate to exceptional drought coverage across the U.S. is at its lowest since August 2020 and is likely to continue improving, or end entirely, across much of California and the Great Basin,” NOAA forecasters said.

As the snowpack melts in the coming months, it’s expected to further improve drought conditions across much of the western US, according to NOAA. But, that could also mean more floods.

“Approximately 44% of the U.S. is at risk for flooding this spring,” said Ed Clark, director of NOAA’s National Water Center. “California’s historic snowpack, coupled with spring rain, is heightening the potential for spring floods.”